Fishes--Identification]]>
Plants--Identification]]>
Salinity]]>
Environmental flows]]>
Water levels]]>
Aboriginal culture]]>
Aboriginal fish traps]]>
Fishing industry]]>
Floods]]>
Family histories]]>
The group talk about: a wall structure built in 1959 which stopped flows and reduced water levels in Ral Ral Creek; the story behind the naming of Squabbily Creek; Aboriginal rock corrals and cooking places; professional fishing methods; family records of plant species (lucerne, hawthorn, rhubarb, nardoo) created by Bert Stoneham; disappearance of lobster in the 1960s; 1956 and 1970 floods; salt interception scheme.]]>
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Fishes--Identification]]>
Plants--Identification]]>
Birds--Identification]]>
Snakes]]>
Riparian areas]]>
Bait fishing]]>
Floods]]>
Salinity]]>
Irrigation]]>
Local history]]>
Military service]]>
World War II]]>
Communities]]>
Soldier settlement]]>
Born in Renmark in 1923, Howard lives on the banks of the Murray River at Pyap, near Loxton. He grew up in an underprivileged First World War settlement in Renmark, spending school holidays helping his father on the land picking dried fruit and tending to animals. Howard was a Royal Australian Air Force pilot and bomber in World War II, and commercial pilot for British Airways. When he returned with his brother from WWII he took up an ex-serviceman block near Loxton.
Howard recalls history about: soldier settlements after the First Word War (Renmark, Berri, Barmera, Waikerie); the mix of cultures in the population as a result of the World Wars; training at an army camp at Victor Harbour, and training as a fighter pilot at Deniliquin in 1942; the sinking of the Australian Hospital Ship Centaur; experiencing WWII first hand on the south coast of England and as a bomber pilot over Germany.
Howard also discusses: fishing at Ral Ral Creek growing up, a tributary of the Murray River; changes in fish species (the main three being Cod, Callop, Bony Bream); the number of trees and shade along the river bank; fishing methods used on the river bank, and types of bait (e.g. birds to catch shrimp, mussels to catch cod); changes observed in minor and major flood cycles; changes in salinity, and the resulting changes in irrigation practice in the Riverland; yabbying techniques and where they were most abundant; bird nesting and water bird species; snakes; vegetation; floods 1931 (Renmark), 1951, 1956, 1959 (Berri).
Also mentioned: Tree of Knowledge (Berri, marked with flood levels).
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Fishing--Australia]]>
Salinity]]>
Indigenous medicine]]>
Burial sites]]>
Wetlands]]>
Dredging]]>
Introduced fishes]]>
Droughts]]>
Birds--Identification]]>
Fishes--Identification]]>
Fishes--effect of water levels on]]>
Erosion]]>
Spawning]]>
Traditional ecological knowledge]]>
Water quality]]>
Kingsley is from the Gerard Aboriginal community in South Australia. Born in 1971, he has always lived on the river; camping with family and extended family, a time for Elders to educate the younger generations about Country. Kingsley shares his knowledge of a changing and interconnected landscape.
Kingsley talks about: teaching family to swim and fish; yabbying methods; a period when Catfish species were rare; salinity (water and ground table) issues and low water levels; lack of ‘decent’ floods; Aboriginal grave sites and culture, native bushes, and native vegetables impacted by environmental degradation (e.g. traditional medicinal methods); the role of wetlands and back creeks (backwaters) as nurseries for all animals; the impact of Willow tree removal on Murray Cod and Callop; different types of soil in the area; changes observed in water colour; hybrid knowledge systems (incorporating Western into Aboriginal), and the desire to learn from each other. Also mentioned: snake species; water birds; vegetation; Crown Land.
Indigenous terms for fish species discussed:
Murray cod - Gadu, Pondi’s Gadu;
Yellowbelly - Thaigai; Pilaki
Catfish - Gaigai;
Bony bream: Thukeri
Silver Bream - Tookaree;
Silver Perch - Bungi.
One of the images in the collection includes a book called 'Tucker' by Ian Abdulla (1947-2011). It is a children's illustrated book about an Aboriginal boy who grows up along the Murray River, when bush tucker was plentiful.
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]]>
Floods]]>
Fisheries]]>
Salinity]]>
River engineering]]>
Bait fishing]]>
Fishing industry]]>
Soldier settlement]]>
Born in 1935, Malcom is a professional fisherman. First taught to fish by his grandfather, he bought a professional licence in 1957.
Malcom talks about: soldier settlements around the time of the 1956 flood; government allocation of river sections for commercial fishing; professional fishing equipment and techniques; baiting methods; process of preparing and transporting fish for market, and market prices; diseased fish (‘Redfin were good carriers’); electrofishing techniques; deterioration of trees as a result of unnatural flooding and salinity in floodplains caused by the locks; impact on deteriorated floodplains on native fish (whereas carp thrive); yabbying after flood events; the social impact of insufficient income from commercial fishing; floods 1956, 1970s.
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Fishes--Identification]]>
Plants--Identification]]>
Fishes--Breeding]]>
Endangered species]]>
Fish stocking]]>
Droughts]]>
Captive breeding]]>
Environmental flows]]>
Todd, a landholder in the Murray Bridge area, breeds a variety of flatheaded gudgeon fish species in tanks in his garage, including the endangered Purple Spotted gudgeon. Todd’s broodstock facility includes twenty-five Southern Purple Spotted gudgeons, the last known population in the southern half of the Murray-Darling Basin – removed from a wetland during the 2007 drought. Similar facilities exist in Adelaide, and at a few Adelaide schools.
Todd talks about captive breeding programs; the types of stresses fish suffer; the lifecycle of fish kept at the facility; various methods to ensure fish survival in wild; theories behind their decline; water plant species.
Other fish species mentioned: Midgley's gudgeon.]]>
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Fishes--Identification]]>
Family life]]>
Camping]]>
Swimming]]>
Weeds]]>
Fishing boats]]>
Water sports]]>
Environmental flows]]>
Introduced fishes]]>
Floods]]>
Born in 1964, Tracy is Manager of the Loxton Information Bureau. She moved to Loxton when she was about 11, and spent a lot of time at Katarapko Creek. Tracy saw her interview as a way to honour her father Colin Shultz, his love of the river, and the way the river became integral to their life once they moved to Loxton. Tracy’s interview is short but rich in terms of showing how recreational fishing, family life and place making environments are intertwined.
Tracy talks about: camping, fishing, swimming, and skiing on the river; recreational fishing methods from boat and river bank; yabbying methods; changes in water quality (visibility and colour); changes in water vegetation (weeds and reeds); worm farming; observations of change sin water flow and current; snags and debris in the river; an occasion when carp became stuck in wetlands after a high water event; the differences between the river at Albury and Katarapko Creek; floods 1970s.]]>
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The Lower Darling River and Great Darling Anabranch are located in southͲwest New South Wales. Muddy waters meander over the grey soil floodplains past red dunes, spiky saltbush and gnarled red gums. These are the traditional lands of the Paakintji people. But the land and the river are no longer what the Paakintji once knew and fished.
11 000 years ago, the Darling River changed its course just south of Menindee Lakes, leaving the Great Anabranch’s 460km channel to dry and flow into the Murray only during big floods. Since its discovery by Europeans, the Great Anabranch has been the focus of dreams to use the ancient river channel to deliver water for irrigation. The Darling itself was once a busy transportation route, with paddlesteamers carrying wool and other goods between Bourke and the rest of the colony.
(Source: Frawley, J., Nichols, S., Goodall, H. and Baker, E. 2011. Darling and the Great Anabranch: Talking fish, making connections with the rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin. Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Canberra.)]]>
see details...]]>
http://geonode.research.uts.edu.au/layers/geonode%3Afrawley2012page058]]>
View or download from publisher...]]>
see details...]]>
Atlas of Living Australia]]>
The Murray River is the boundary between NSW and Victoria. The river both defines boundaries and unites them with the waters that sustain townships, irrigation and the floodplain forests, including the 70,000ha of the iconic Barmah and Millewa Forest. The river and its floodplain are the traditional lands of the Yorta Yorta and Bangerang people. The Murray is a very different river to the one the Yorta Yorta and Bangerang peoples once knew and fished.
Today, flows in the river are controlled by Hume Dam – the first of 15 structures on the main channel. By the time it reaches Corowa, the Murray has changed from a small clear stream to a fast flowing river, its waters tea brown. Near Yarrawonga the Murray enters Lake Mulwala, where the skeletons of old drowned red gums are a stark memorial to the way the river’s changed.
(Source: Frawley, J., Nichols, S., Goodall, H. and Baker, E. 2011. Murray: Talking fish, making connections with the rivers of the Murray‐Darling Basin. Murray‐Darling Basin Authority, Canberra.)]]>
Map image attribution: Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Talking Fish Project see details...]]>
http://geonode.research.uts.edu.au/layers/geonode%3Afrawley2012page080]]>
View or download from publisher...]]>
see details...]]>
Atlas of Living Australia]]>